in five years' time
by janemac24
Summary: [AU] At Mary Margaret's urging, Emma reluctantly attends her five year college reunion. To her surprise, she finds herself reconnecting with a classmate she never even expected to like, let alone kiss. Swan Queen one-shot.


**Based on prompt: "Swan Queen, high school or college reunion - mistaken for a couple."**

"We shouldn't have come," Emma grumbles, trailing along behind Mary Margaret.

_"We have to go to the five year reunion," her roommate had declared. "It's been so long since we've seen everyone: Ruby, David, Leroy..."_

Emma had tuned out after that. She'd hated all of those people – the not-seeing-them thing had been by choice. Actually, the only reason she even talks to Mary Margaret is because they're still living together, and _that's_ only because neither of them makes enough money to pay for a one-bedroom in Boston.

Well, Emma probably could, but she wouldn't want to hang Mary Margaret out to dry. They were never friends, but after nine years of living together, she's the closest thing Emma has to family.

"Look, Ashley and Thomas have a little girl!" Mary Margaret point out, waving eagerly at the couple. She's grown largely immune to Emma's misanthropic ways over the years, mostly due to her own uncanny ability to ignore anything that doesn't make her happy.

"Sucks for them," mutters Emma.

"Oh, and there's – Ruby, over here!" Emma scowls as Mary Margaret's best friend – strange, really, that the most prissy, buttoned-up girl in the entire school would have befriended someone who's entire wardrobe consisted of hot pants, but that's Mary Margaret for you – comes bounding over, a wolfish grin on her face.

"Have you guys gotten to the punch bowl yet?" she asks in lieu of a greeting, pulling Mary Margaret in for a hug. Turning to Emma, she adds in a conspiratorial whisper, "It's the only way to get through this thing with your sanity intact, trust me. I had to help Granny cater last year's."

Eyes lighting up, Mary Margaret exclaims, "Granny? Is she here?" and before Emma even knows what's happening, Ruby is dragging her off to the food tent.

There goes the only person she even likes here.

"Where was that punch bowl?" she says under her breath, head down as she shoves her way through the gathering crowd.

Suddenly, she barrels headlong into a person's chest. "Whoa!" he cries, narrowly avoiding sloshing bright pink punch all over his shirt. Emma groans – she knows that voice.

"Hello, David."

He grins, immediately wrapping her in an unwelcome hug. "Emma! Great to see you!" The worst part is that he's sincere; he's one of the few people who actually does like everyone here. But she knows the next question is coming before it even leaves his lips: "Where's Mary Margaret?"

"She's with Ruby," Emma reports. "We just got here, so she's got a lot of schmoozing to do. She's apparently very excited to see you, though."

"Really?" a disdainful voice demands from behind them. "I would have thought you two idiots would have been married by now."

Emma and David both turn to face Regina Mills, the terrifying valedictorian of their class and perhaps the one person more antisocial than Emma herself.

"And yet you're not even here together?" She shakes her head and takes a long drink from the flask she's carrying, muttering something about punch not being strong enough for the levels of incompetence she's having to deal with today.

"I'm...um, I'm going to say hello to Mary Margaret. Always a pleasure, Regina," says David, forcing a smile before leaving the scene in a manner that could be fairly described as "fleeing."

"Coward!" Emma calls after him. With a loud sigh, she turns back to her only companion, who's arching an eyebrow in surprise. "What've you got in there?" she asks, pointing to the flask.

"Whiskey. If you want to find a cup, I can share."

Emma nods gratefully and grabs one of the last clean cups from the punch table. "Surprised you're here," she remarks as Regina pours for her.

"Oh? And why is that?"

Emma gulps, wondering if she said the wrong thing. Regina is just as scary now as she was back then, perhaps even more so, with her blood-red lips and pristine black pantsuit that screams "presidential campaign" rather than "college reunion."

"Just, you know, you weren't always a huge fan of the social events," she says carefully.

"As I recall, neither were you," Regina replies, with a smile that makes Emma's hair stand on end.

"Yeah, well, you know Mary Margaret," she mumbles, eyes carefully averted from Regina's gleaming white teeth. "She wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Yes, I do," agrees Regina, lip curling in distaste. She and Mary Margaret had always hated each other – some feud from their prep school that Emma doesn't understand in the slightest. "And _I_ came because it's never too early to teach my son about the importance of college."

Emma blinks, disbelievingly looking around for a kid. It's not that she's _shocked_ really, but – yeah, okay, she is. "Your son?"

"He's at my parents' house, napping, right now," Regina explains. "But he enjoyed the children's tent earlier in the day. He's two. His name is Henry."

"Congrats, that's awesome," says Emma, raising her cup in a mock toast. Then, almost immediately after swallowing, she makes her first blunder. "Are you still with that guy? Daniel Something-or-other?" He'd been a year or two ahead of them, maybe, and a really nice, pleasant guy, though possibly not the smartest. He and Regina were living proof of opposites attracting. She thinks they may have even gotten married.

Regina's eyes darken. "No, actually. He died about a month before Henry's adoption was finalized."

_Shit._

"I'm sorry," Emma says quietly.

Regina shrugs and stares hard at her flask. "It's hardly your fault."

"Yeah, I just meant... never mind." Shaking her head, she quickly changes the subject. "You kept the kid anyway though. That's awesome."

And that clearly wasn't the right thing to say, either. "Why wouldn't I?" Regina snaps. "Why would I abandon _my son_ just because I was upset about losing his father?"

"No reason," Emma says quickly. "Just... you'd be surprised at how many shitty parents there are in the world." She's had potential adoptive families hang her out to dry for far less legitimate reasons. "Raising a kid on your own can't be easy."

That seems to soften Regina, even if only a little. "I generally try not to be a 'shitty parent,'" she replies. "Henry seems to like me just fine, but we'll see what happens when he gets older."

"Are you still living in Maine?" asks Emma. She's not quite sure why she's continuing to carry on a conversation with the woman her circle of acquaintances had dubbed "The Evil Queen" – Mary Margaret's sworn enemy for god-only-knows-what-reason. Then again, she supposes it's Mary Margaret who's always telling her to be social. But she can't figure out why she suddenly _wants_ to be.

If Regina is experiencing similar discomfort, she doesn't show it. "Yes, still in Storybrooke, actually. I was recently elected mayor."

"Shit!" Emma exclaims, eyes bugging out. "That's, like, pretty prestigious."

Regina snorts. "Not really that much of an accomplishment, let me assure you. The seat was vacated last year when my father retired, and I thought it might be amusing to run. It just so happened that I was unopposed."

"Maybe leave that out when they're interviewing you for Top Forty Under Forty," Emma advises, smirking. "Still, it's pretty cool."

"Thank you, I suppose. And you?"

"Me?"

Rolling her eyes, Regina clarifies, "I assume you have a job or something going on in your life."

Emma shrugs uncomfortably and says, "Well, yeah, I keep busy. Nothing like being mayor, though. You're kind of winning."

"It's hardly a competition," says Regina, "although some of our classmates don't seem to realize that. The number of humble-brags I've been subjected to –"

"Or complain-brags!" Emma interrupts. "Those are the worst. Oh no, my new house is so big I don't even have enough furniture to fill it up. Oh no, little Timmy is so smart I have to baby-proof my house early because he's crawling at six months." Regina's cackling shifts to full-on laughter and Emma feels strangely pleased with herself. "You know what we should do?" she says, suddenly excited. "We should, like, turn it into a drinking game."

After a moment's consideration, Regina shrugs her assent. "What are the rules? Take a drink for every thinly-veiled bragging remark?" When Emma nods, she asks, "So, do we approach people or let them come to us?"

"Well, what's worse – being social or being sober?"

"Fair point," Regina replies with a grin. "Shall we?" She offers Emma her arm – she takes it after a moment's internally-screaming hesitation – and marches towards their nearest target: David Nolan's identical twin James, who is as pompous as his brother is self-effacing.

"Does it count is the bragging isn't veiled at all?" whispers Emma. Regina nods.

"James, it's been so long," she says, voice layered thickly with the false warmth of a practiced politician. Emma watches, impressed, as Regina effortlessly leads James into one pompous remark after another until he finally excuses himself after they've had about seven shots each.

"My drink is already gone," Emma mutters sheepishly.

Smiling wickedly, Regina produces a large bottle of scotch from her purse. "I'm surprised he didn't try to make a pass at either of us," she remarks as she refills her flask and Emma's plastic cup, brow furrowed. "Every single College Council meeting –"

"Well, maybe he's changed in the last five years," Emma suggests. "Most people do, at least a little."

"You haven't."

Emma blinks, unsure if she should be offended. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demands. "You didn't even know me in college."

"Look, isn't that Ursula from the swim team?" Regina asks, blatantly ignoring Emma's question. She lets it go for once – no sense in fighting so early in their tentative friendship, if you could call it that.

After an hour of hearing all about Ursula's masters' swimming records, Ashley and Thomas's excessive fertility, Mulan's Cross-fit success and her upcoming run on American Ninja Warrior, August's "bestseller," and a whole mess of other people who Emma doesn't remember ever knowing, they're exhausted and more than a little bit tipsy.

"Our classmates are terrible," Emma groans, leaning against Regina, who's not exactly walking straight herself.

"I need to sober up before I go home," the other woman says exhaustedly. "Or before any townies see me."

Emma looks around the quad and spots a coffee pot on one of the corner tables. "Let's get you over there," she suggests.

"Oh no," Regina mumbles, burying her face in Emma's shoulder.

"Oh no? You're not going to throw up, are you? Because I think you should maybe put your face somewhere –"

"No, it's Belle French," Regina hisses.

"Really? I think she's okay. She –"

"Is dating Professor Gold."

"Oh. Wait..._what_?"

It's too late to flee, though – not that Emma fully understands what Belle's admittedly strange choice of significant other has to do with anything – since the woman is already beside them. "Hi Emma," Belle says brightly. "I saw Mary Margaret, but I didn't realize you were here, too. With...Regina?"

"Oh, we were just –"

"I think it's great," Belle continues, ignoring Emma's half-hearted attempt at an explanation. Regina's head jerks up. "You know, I always thought the two of you would make a great couple if you ever spent some time together."

"That's an awkward thing to say to someone," Emma says under her breath, but Belle ignores that, too.

"Anyway, I guess five years can really make a difference. I'm so happy for both of you," she gushes. "Especially you, Regina. I was worried, you know, after –"

"Yes, I'm very happy to have Emma in my life," Regina practically growls before pressing a kiss on Emma's lips. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we were in the middle of something."

Belle takes her leave, still smiling, and Emma gapes at Regina. "What was _that?_" she demands.

"What was what?" asks Regina, her face a picture of false innocence.

"You...you...you _kissed_ me!" Emma sputters.

"Did you not want me to?"

"I didn't...I mean, I..."

"I'm sorry," Regina says earnestly, now visibly distressed. "I never intended to upset you. It just – it seemed like a good idea in the moment, but now I see that it wasn't. I'll... I'll just go get my coffee now."

Emma stares, utterly baffled, Regina walks unsteadily but determinedly in the direction of the coffee. It's possible that her eyes are deceiving her, but she thinks she sees the other woman's hand swiping at her cheek like she's wiping away a tear, and for some reason the thought makes her want to vomit.

"Regina, wait!" she calls. "I was just surprised, really! I didn't not want it."

"There's no need to lie to me, Miss Swan," Regina replies without turning around. "My feelings are not so delicate. I misread a situation and I can admit my mistake." But her voice cracks and Emma knows she's crying and all she wants is to make it stop.

"Regina, no!" Emma exclaims, racing to catch up to the brunette who's suddenly started moving a lot faster. "I really didn't want – I mean I didn't _not_ want – I mean I _did_ want you to kiss me, I was just –"

That finally stops Regina in her tracks. "You did?"

"Yeah," Emma says breathlessly, tugging at the brunette's shoulder until they're facing each other. "I mean, who wouldn't want you to kiss them?" Regina cracks a small smile. "I was just really surprised, you know? I didn't think _you_ wanted to."

"Then you're an idiot," Regina mumbles.

"An idiot that you want to kiss?"

"Apparently, yes."


End file.
